Dutch plan audacious flying tricycle

One wheel short of a flying car

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We don't quite know how this one originally got past us (rest assured an internal investigation is as we speak hunting the guilty parties), but we just learned that the Dutch have since last year been quietly working on a bold flying tricycle project - not quite the flying car we were promised but representing roughly 75 per cent of that long-awaited vehicle.

Yes indeed, bring on the PALV - a personal air and land three-wheeler promising a "solution to increasing congestion in our cities, highways and skyways". According to the blurb, private flying will soon "no longer be the exclusive domain of executives and celebrities. If congestion or obstacles block the destination – fly".

Like a helicopter, [the PALV] has a Very Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (VSTOVL) capability making it possible to land practically anywhere. It can be driven to the nearest airfield or helipad and, because it flies below 4,000 feet, can take off without filing a flight plan. The autogyro technology means that it can be steered and landed safely even if the engine fails as it descends vertically rather than nose-diving. Lift is generated by the forward speed produced by the foldable push propeller on the back.

Hold on a minute... Autogyro technology? We seem to recall a bit of a kerfuffle back in 1967 when Q unpacked Little Nellie - at that time considered at the very cutting edge of Blofeld-busting technology. Sadly, and despite Little Nellie's impressive specs including rocket launchers and aerial mines, the autogyro concept failed to catch on in big way with the commuting public.

And as for the claim that the PALV "can be steered and landed safely even if the engine fails as it descends vertically rather than nose-diving", well, you'd probably want to rewrite that last bit before printing it in a glossy sales brochure.

The PALV does, nonetheless, offer at least one innovation - its "patented cutting-edge ‘tilting’ system". This allows a ground-based tilt of up to 30°, a vast improvement on the Reliant Robin which, although capable of a 45° tilt, could only accomplish this on two wheels and shortly before rolling into the nearest ditch.